Ripping Her Heart Out
by Eltrut07
Summary: Takes place after 4x22, Elena is over the idea of killing Katherine but still wants revenge.


Disclaimer: I don't own the vampire diaries.

A/N: So many feels from the latest episode of 4x22- if you haven't watched that yet I would recommend doing so before you read this, it contains some spoilers. I got this idea after Elena was talking to Stefan in his room about killing Katherine, the story takes place the next day after 4x22.

* * *

"I need you to do me a favor." Rebekah turned from where she was conversing with Matt to look at Elena, a blank look on her face. Elena noted the impatience on the blonde's face, a result of their previous interaction no doubt.

"Stefan already picked up the rest of your things from my house. Nice to see that even with your humanity back you are still walking all over him." Elena ignored her words, not wanting to think of anything, least of all Stefan.

"Look, I know what I said last time we talked….about us not being friends." Elena paused, and Rebekah crossed her arms, an eyebrow raised showing her impatience. Matt ducked his head behind her, putting his hands in his pockets and trying to ignore the animosity in front of him. Elena sighed, this was the last thing she wanted to do but she knew that she needed Rebekah. "I just…can we go for a walk?" Elena glanced back at the awkward Matt and Rebekah looked over her shoulder, her features softening as she took in the gorgeous human behind her.

Matt gave Rebekah a small smile before lifting his hands up, as if surrendering. "I will go see if anyone has any use for the human." Matt turned and walked out of the room, going in to the library where everyone was converging, discussing how they were going to solve their latest problem. The veil down had caused even more threats of death then they were used to facing.

"And why exactly do you want to go on a walk with me? You do realize I can kill you without the slightest bit of effort if you try something." Elena gritted her teeth, her rage urging her to lunge at Rebekah and cause her pain, any pain to make her feel a fraction of what Elena was feeling.

"I am not going to trick you…I promise." Rebekah laughed, rolling her eyes and looking to the side where she could see the rest of the inhabitants all milling around the Salvatore's house.

"Even if you really were being genuine, shouldn't you be spending this time with your brother?" Elena flinched, her head automatically pivoting so that she could see Jeremy, who was staring intently at Stefan and Damon as they discussed the next step in their plan. "If my brother wasn't on a murderous revenge path I would be spending as much time with him as I could." Elena turned back to Rebekah but the blonde wasn't looking at her, she was now looking out the window.

"Exactly why you should know how serious I am. I wouldn't waste a second of my time with Jeremy if it wasn't important." Rebekah turned, her eyes glassy as she stared at Elena, trying to detect a hint of dishonesty. Finally she nodded and they started towards the door.

"Ladies?" Damon walked over to them, smirk on his face but his face hard, clearly noticing that they were up to no good. Elena grimaced on the inside, she was expecting Stefan to question them if they tried to leave but she had figured Damon wouldn't say a thing to her. He had been walking on eggshells around her, still uncertain where he stood with her. Part of her was thankful for his distance.

"We will be back in a moment." Rebekah said, opening the front door and walking out without a backwards glance, she did not have to answer to anyone, especially not Damon Salvatore. Damon raised his eyes at Elena, waiting for a reason as to why she was leaving with Rebekah. Elena just shrugged and turned to walk out of the door.

"Listen Elena," Damon was suddenly in front of her, staring at her in that way that made her feel as if he could see through her. "I know it's been a wild few days…I just-"

"If I wanted a lecture I would go talk to Stefan." Elena bit out, not really meaning what she said, especially because she knew Stefan could hear and she had already upset him so much lately, but she needed Damon to back off. Damon snapped his mouth shut, staring at her with his lips pursed. She knew that mentioning Stefan would be exactly what she needed to get Damon to let her leave.

"Just be careful." Elena nodded and smiled gratefully at him. She glanced sideways, the instinct to check on Jeremy still strong. Her eyes locked with his and he nodded, smiling at her. Her eyes flicked to Stefan but he was looking at the other side of the room, clearly trying not to catch her eyes. Beside him Lexi was glaring openly at Elena and Damon. Elena shivered and turned quickly as she heard Rebekah cough impatiently, she had more important things to worry about then Stefan's clearly irate best friend.

* * *

Katherine seethed, furious at her predicament. She tried to pull her arm viciously from the Blonde's strong grip but it was futile, she may be over five hundred years old but she was a weakling compared to Rebekah. "Will you stop?" Katherine scoffed, glaring hotly at Rebekah.

"Will you tell me why exactly you are manhandling me?" Katherine bit out, not understanding why Rebekah was holding her hostage.

"This isn't exactly pleasant for me either. There are much better things I would rather be doing, not to mention there are a hundred ghosts that want me dead." Katherine stopped struggling, straightening out and glancing around the Mikaelson mansion that Klaus had built. She felt wrong being in there. She expected that with everything going on he would be making an appearance soon, and although she told him she was done running she wouldn't put it past him to kill her anyway. He was not a man of honor. Not like Elijah. Her heart clenched painfully and she narrowed her eyes, quickly clearing her mind as not to dwell on things she couldn't change.

"You know your brother won't kill me, not while he knows how Elijah feels about me." She didn't know if it was the truth, but if this was Rebekah's version of fixing things with her brother she did not want to be collateral.

"And what exactly does he feel? Last I checked he left you here, alone." Katherine pulled her arm hard but Rebekah simply lifted an eyebrow in her direction. "I see why Elena was able to attack you yesterday, you are weak."

Katherine straightened her spine, her head snapping forward and her eyes growing dark. She was not weak and she would not have some pathetic original call her such. "Please, do you really think Elena can kill me?" Katherine laughed shaking her head, amused by the very thought.

"I heard she would have ripped your heart out if it weren't for Stefan stopping her."

Katherine couldn't help the small smile that stretched across her mouth from the memory of Stefan saving her. " Yes, Stefan…I could have killed Elena easily, but I am not stupid and I think about my actions and their consequences before acting."

"And you are telling me you want Elena alive?" Rebekah barked out, not believing it at all, if Elena were gone Katherine would be back in the center of the Salvatore brother's attention.

"You really are stupid, you know that?" Rebekah's face tightened and she squeezed Katherine's arm, smiling as the vampire grimaced in pain. "Mature. I don't care if Elena is dead or alive, frankly I would prefer her dead." Katherine smiled, imagining the day she would rejoice the death of Elena Gilbert. "But I know that I can't be the one to kill her, as much as I may want to."

Rebekah looked at Katherine, thinking about her words, not exactly understanding their significance. "I have to admit, I wasn't expecting Stefan to save me…I was about to snap her neck, but Stefan was a bonus." Katherine smiled in the mischievous way only she could, twirling her hair as she replayed the moment Stefan leaped on Elena, throwing her across the room. She would be lying if she didn't think about it last night while in her bed.

Rebekah's eyes widened and she smiled, shaking her head and looking at Katherine in amused disbelief. "I can't believe it." Katherine simply raised her eyebrow, waiting for the obtuse blonde to continue. "After all that bullshit about you loving my brother, you are still and always will be pining over Stefan." Katherine just stared back at her, neither confirming or denying her words, but Rebekah knew. She knew that feeling that someone had when Stefan Salvatore looked at them with love in his eyes. It was intoxicating. And addicting.

"That's why you didn't kill Elena, you know Stefan would never forgive you." It wasn't too much of a shock, Nik had told her how obsessed Katherine was with Stefan. He knew that if he had Stefan with him Katherine would be within a few feet, ensuring he was safe. She had been filled with jealous rage over the infamous Katerina Peirce for years for causing a rift between her brothers, and then hearing that she was obsessed with Stefan had been too much. But Nik had simply smiled and assured her that they would get their chance for revenge eventually. She had completely forgot about their conversation till that moment.

It made sense, she did not doubt that Katherine had some feelings toward Elijah, she could hear it in her voice and Elijah had always been such a good judge of character. But she knew what Stefan's love was like. And she remembered how obsessed Katherine was with him, even begging NIk once to leave him alone and not to hurt him. There was no doubt that Katherine Peirce still had some obsession with Stefan Salvatore, even if she had tried to move on with Elijah.

And then it started to all fall in place, why Elena had asked her to bring Katherine here. Rebekah had thought that Elena had wanted to rough the vampire up a little and work out some of her aggression, exact some revenge. But bringing her here, and telling Rebekah to keep them quiet and hidden but with the view of Nik's drawing room…it hadn't made sense. A sense of dread filled Rebekah when she heard the sound of someone running up to the house. She hoped that she was wrong in her assumptions.

"Wh-" Katherine opened her mouth but Rebekah quickly clamped her hand over the brunette's mouth, glaring as she felt Katherine's teeth bite in to her skin. Rebekah rolled her eyes at the childish antics and took a step deeper in to the wardrobe they were hidden in, the door cracked so they could see out of it but angled so someone would have to be really looking for them to see them.

Elena walked in to the room, glancing quickly in their direction and then smirking. Katherine's eyes narrowed, what was going on? Rebekah heard a second person walk up to the door and she held her breath, hoping it wasn't who she thought it was. As he entered the room she closed her eyes, part of her wanting to reveal herself and ruin Elena's plan but the other part of her was morbidly fascinated with what was going to happen.

She watched, eager to see the result of what was surely to be an interesting moment.

* * *

"Elena! What is it? Did Kol hurt you?" Elena let Stefan rush up to her and look her over, clearly expecting to see her hurt. She shook her head no and he scrunched his face in confusion, glancing around the room quickly. "Is Klaus here?" Elena noted the somewhat hopeful tone of his voice but she wasn't too surprised. Stefan had naturally grown closer to Klaus as she had pushed him away and grown closer with Damon. Besides Caroline Klaus had been one of the only people that actually cared what happened to Stefan around Mystic Falls.

"No, or if he is I don't know about it…you should ask Caroline." Stefan pursed his lips, trying to figure out if that was a dig on Caroline but he didn't note any malice in her voice.

"Well…why did you tell me you needed to talk to me…and here of all places?" Stefan, after realizing that this wasn't an emergency walked over to the shelf where Klaus kept his liquor and poured himself a drink, after the day he was having he needed one. Elena watched him, holding her breath as he walked towards the wardrobe but letting it out when he turned to her, drinks in hand and handed one to her. "If this is about Katherine you know where I stand."

Elena took a sip of her drink, the alcohol pleasantly burning her throat, but nothing like the way it did when she had been human. She wished that alcohol affected her as quickly as it did when she had been human, she needed some liquid courage about now. Stefan was staring at her warily, clearly expecting her to start talking about how having Jeremy back for the day didn't deter her from her goal of killing Katherine.

She shook her head, averting her gaze from his, not able to stare at his face for too long without feeling the guilt start to creep up. "No, you were right, trying to kill Katherine was pointless and stupid of me." Elena took a deep, shuddering breath, hoping that she could be able to redeem herself in the future for what she was about to do.

"But I think that was partly the reason why I wanted to do it…" She looked up, eyes watery as she caught Stefan's gaze, his eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes were locked on to hers, clearly hanging on to her every word. "I think part of me knew she could kill me easily if she wanted to…I think part of me wanted to die." She whispered it so softly, if he had been a human he would not have been able to catch the heartbreaking words. Within moments he grabbed her, hugging her close to him, tucking her head underneath his chin.

Elena closed her eyes, savoring the way she felt in his arms. It made her feel human again, loved and cherished. She had never felt safer than when she was in Stefan's loving embrace, with him whispering softly to her that everything was going to be okay, that she would get through this soon and that she still had so much to live for. "I have nothing left Stefan, after the veil is back up Jeremy will be gone and you are going to leave Mystic Falls…"

Stefan looked out the window over Elena, her heartbreak was his heartbreak and the desperation in her voice was crippling. But he couldn't do it, as much as he wanted to sooth her he couldn't sacrifice his or Damon's happiness again. If he didn't leave he would rot away in misery in this town. "Elena, I can't stay anymore, I can't keep doing this, you and Damon deserve to be happy." As much as the words hurt him he meant them. He wanted happiness for his brother and Elena more than anything else. He was willing to walk away if it meant that they would get their happy ending.

Elena sniffled, trying to quiet her sobbing. "What if…what if I don't want Damon…" Stefan froze, Elena tightening her grip on him, afraid he would flee. For a moment he said nothing and she patiently waited, desperate for his reaction. He let out a jagged breath, his hands that had been wrapped around her, rubbing her back soothingly were now on her shoulders.

"Elena…I can't…." Pain resonated within his words and Elena bit her tongue, needing to stay strong. Stefan lightly pushed her away, escaping from her embrace and knocking back the rest of his drink. She watched as he turned away from her, his shoulders tense, his body on edge.

"I am not sired to him anymore. I remember everything Stefan and I can never ever apologize enough for how I hurt you. I never wanted Damon…I always wanted you…but I couldn't think straight….my thoughts weren't my own and they clouded everything. I couldn't think, sleep, drink, anything without thinking of him." Stefan was still turned away from her, his body more tense now then it was before. "I think back to what I did, what I said to you…I am disgusted with myself." She shuddered and let out another small sob.

She closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face and she heard Stefan slowly turn around. She opened her eyes and gasped at the sorrow, pain filled eyes of her once lover. "I can't do that to Damon Elena. He is finally in a good place…it doesn't matter that he did it to me or that we were together first…he is my brother…I can't keep repeating the past." His voice was husky, Elena could tell he was barely holding back the tears that she could see in his eyes.

She took a step forward, placing her glass on the coffee table and walked up to him, stopping a foot away. He averted his gaze, not able to look in to her face, he knew that if he kept looking at her eyes he would give in. He needed to stay strong, needed to walk away from her once and for all or he would continue to poison his and Damon's relationship.

She grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her, her eyes pleading with his. He closed his eyes momentarily but opened them as he heard her open her mouth. "I love _you_ Stefan. Always and forever. I have loved you from the very beginning and I will love you until my last dying breath. Even if you leave I will follow you, I will follow you to the ends of the earth because you are the only one I want." She spoke passionately and her words held a promise. Stefan wanted so desperately to believe her, to grab her hand and walk off in to the sunset with her after the veil was up and not look back at Mystic Falls. But he would be kidding himself if he even let himself think about that possibility.

He grabbed her hands and slowly pried them from his face, avoiding her gaze as he took a step back from her. "I won't do this to Damon Elena….I finally have my brother back…I can't lose him again." Elena looked away, knowing better than anyone the pain of losing a brother. But she needed Stefan to stop being self-righteous and to be selfish, do what he actually wanted to do for once. He turned away, grabbing his glass and putting it back by the bar, he knew no one else would touch it as it was his designated glass. Klaus was a bit of a germaphobe.

Elena's heart began to beat rapidly as she saw Stefan turn and head towards the door, if he left now it would all have been for naught. "Stefan wait!" She shouted, conveying her anxiety at the thought of him leaving through her voice. He paused and turned slightly toward her, resignation all over his face. She knew that he wouldn't waver, he had made his decision and that was that, but there was still one last thing she could try.

"Do you still love me?" she asked, her voice small and broken sounding. Stefan's heart clenched, there in the middle of Klaus' drawing room stood the girl he would sacrifice almost anything for, standing brokenly, crying out to him, begging him to help her. He closed his eyes, his heart burning as the feelings threatened to overwhelm him. "Right….why would you? I am a horrible person…" she trailed off, tears falling down her face and he snapped.

He rushed over to her, grabbing her face between his hands and he locked his eyes with hers. Watery green met watery brown and fire blazed between them. "Of course I still love you Elena, I have loved you from the moment I found out you were nothing like Katherine, from the moment you bumped in to me outside of the boy's bathroom, I have loved you through everything, everything we have been through and I will continue to love you until I utter my last dying breath. I love you so much it consumes my every moment, don't ever doubt that." He stared in to her eyes, urging her to realize that no matter where he was or what either of them did, he would always love her.

She shot him a watery smile and quickly shot up, catching his mouth with hers and fisting her hand in to his hair, holding him tightly against her. He hesitated for a moment before he snarled, brutally returning her kiss,, passion erupted between them and Stefan's whole body ignited. Every nerve was on edge and he finally felt at home. Months of despair, longing and heart break were wiped away as he was finally where he belonged.

Elena pulled back, breathless, eyes shining with hope as she stared in to Stefan's euphoric face. "I love you Stefan." She said quietly and he closed his eyes, panting as he leaned his forehead against hers, savoring this moment. But he knew that as much as every fiber of his being was telling him to stay here, with Elena where he belonged, he knew that his brother needed him more than he did. Stefan had spent months getting over Elena and was finally at peace with the end of their relationship.

Her love still consumed him. She still drew him in more than he thought possible but he was levelheaded enough to know that he could survive without her. He was ready to move on, especially if it meant his brother could finally find his peace after all these years. She watched as he pulled away from her and her heart jumped at the thought of him leaving.

"Stefan…" she said hesitantly. He glanced at her, realizing that she would let him go this time, that she had realized there would be no swaying him. "Can you just promise me one thing?"

Stefan nodded, face serious as he stared in to the face of the girl he loved more than anything. "Promise me that when you move on that it won't be with Katherine. Promise me that you will never look her way, never seek comfort with her the way you did with Rebekah."

Stefan raised his eyebrows, clearly not expecting her request. He had expected her to ask him not to repeat this moment with anyone, not that he had been planning on it. "Elena, I hate Katherine, nothing in this world or any other world would ever cause me to go to Katherine." Elena stared back at him, wishing that she could believe him but knowing that although he believed those words, he did not realize how much of a lie they were. She knew there would always be a part of him that loved Katherine.

"You saved her Stefan, you saved her because deep down you know you would be devastated if she died." Stefan shook his head, throwing his hands up exasperately, a bad habit he had picked up from Caroline.

"I stopped you from killing Katherine because I knew it wouldn't help you feel better, I knew that it would just hurt you more. Trust me Elena, if it had been anyone else moments from ripping her heart out I would have kept moving. I didn't save Katherine, I saved you!" Elena breathed heavily, feeling as though she could feel the eyes from the wardrobe on her skin.

"I don't believe you." She needed more, something more that would drive it home.

Stefan shook his head, turning it to look out the window, thinking about something. Elena could hear slight movement from the wardrobe but Stefan was too deep in thought to notice luckily. He pursed his lips turning to her. "Bonnie is going to kill her, okay?"

Elena's eye's widened in shock, that was not was she was expecting. "What?" she gasped out, barely containing the smile that wanted to break across her face.

"Damon tried to talk her out of it but she is adamant. She feels as though if Katherine is gone our lives will be a lot easier. When she puts the veil back up…she's going to use her expression on Katherine and send her with the ghosts." Elena was speechless…she stared at Stefan, not expecting this and she wouldn't be surprised if this was some elaborate lie to get her to chill out with her obsession. But he had his serious Stefan face on, the one with the furrowed eyebrows and the slight disapproving look on his face.

"And you are okay with that?" She asked in disbelief, not because it was Katherine but because Stefan was normally opposed to killing anyone unless it was necessary.

"Listen Elena, I know how Katherine works, she does outlandish things to get attention because she is miserable and alone. She has spent so much time running that she has alienated and killed anyone that had ever felt something besides hatred towards her. Any redeeming quality she has ever had is covered up by the fact that she is untrustworthy and self-centered. Katherine only cares about herself and will do anything that she can to stay alive. I don't think we should spend a moment thinking about her, she isn't worth anything. The second she can she will be out of here and on her way to living her lonely miserable life somewhere else, if she is even still here."

Elena tried to hold the triumphant smirk off her face but she failed. Stefan raised his eyebrows at her manic expression but the next moment there was a bang from the wardrobe and he shot over there quickly, ripping the door open. Katherine and Rebekah tumbled out, both glaring at each other. Stefan stared in shock at the two. "What is going on?" he asked, looking to Rebekah, figuring she would be most likely to tell him the truth out of the pair.

Stefan held his hand out and helped the two women off the floor, Katherine averting her gaze and Rebekah nodding her head at him. Her face was tight and she looked on the verge of lashing out so he looked at Katherine but she was staring blankly at the wall. "Why were you two hiding in the wardrobe?" Stefan glanced inside it, surprised that it was even unlocked, he had never seen the inside of it before and curiously found it empty. Only Klaus would lock an empty wardrobe.

"Why don't you ask Elena?" Katherine said snidely, turning her head slowly to glare at her doppelganger. Stefan furrowed his eyebrows and glanced at Elena.

"What does Elena have to do with the two of you hiding…."Stefan trailed off and really looked at the women in front of him. Katherine had slight blood on her lips, from the smell it was vampire blood and Rebekah quickly hid her hand behind her back as she saw Stefan glance at the smear blood on it. He then saw the way that Rebekah was holding on tightly to Katherine's arm and he closed his eyes. Dread beginning to fill him. "Elena…please tell me are just as surprised about this as I am?"

Stefan looked at her imploringly, and his heart sinking as she shrugged, her mouth smirking slightly as she looked at Katherine. "But…why?" He was confused to what the point was to all of this. Was Elena planning on killing Katherine with Rebekah's help? But then why would she tell him to meet her there before doing it?

"Remember out conversation yesterday…when you were trying to help me 'work out my aggression'?" Stefan nodded, still confused. Elena sighed, crossing her arms and glaring at Katherine. "Well last night I was thinking about it…about how you were right, I didn't want Katherine dead…I wanted to rip her heart out in front of her….I wanted to see her face after she realized that I had stolen her heart…me weak little Elena Gilbert, defeating the powerful, manipulative Katerina Petrova." Elena smiled triumphantly at Katherine as her eyes burned bright with hate, wishing Rebekah would let her go so she could rip that little bitch's head off.

Stefan stared at Elena, processing her words but wishing he could come up with some other conclusion. Hoping his reasoning was flawed and there was another explanation. "Did you ever think about what this would do to Stefan? When you asked me to hold her in here I knew you were exacting some type of revenge but I never thought you could stoop to such a level." Stefan looked at Rebekah, his stomach clenching as he realized she reached the same conclusion as him. He looked at Elena, hoping she denied it and gave a reasonable explanation.

"Stefan will always love me no matter what, he will forgive me one day, unlike you." Elena smiled at the glaring Katherine and Stefan felt teh dread course through him, why would he have to forgive her for the beautiful words they had shared? Sure she had tricked him in to telling Katherine that he basically could care less if she died and that she was worthless but he could understand that. He remembered the fury he held for Klaus after he turned it on. The desire to do anything to get what he wanted, to hurt him, all for revenge.

He looked at Elena, the words that he needed the answer to on his tongue but his mouth was dry and he couldn't speak. Katherine sneered at Elena. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. I may have done awful things to Stefan and Damon but I did them for self-preservation, what you did here today was from silly little revenge scheme with Stefan as the collateral."

Katherine's words shot through Stefan and he look to the ground, taking in the luxurious heels on Katherine and Rebekah's feet. His heart was pounding in his ears and he could hear Elena and Katherine bickering back and forth but the only thing he could focus on were Rebekah and Katherine's heels and the pounding in his ears.

"Did you mean any of it?" he asked quietly, his voice emotionless. He already knew the answer but he needed to hear her say it. Needed to hear her say the words that would forever close his heart off to her. He needed this to finally move on. Everyone was silent. He heard Elena shift slightly, still possessing her human side and unable to stand completely still like the older vampires in the room. He had heard her breath catch and her dead heart beat a little faster. He hoped that the guilt was in her but he doubted it. How could someone so cruel feel guilt? If it wasn't for her elaborate revenge plan and the happiness he had seen on her face when she was with Jeremy, he would have thought her emotions were still off.

"She killed Jeremy Stefan…my brother is gone because of her selfishness."

"Did you mean any of it?" He repeated, not wanting to hear anything from her except the truth. Rebekah watched Stefan as he waited for Elena's response, he was tense, and looking down at…her shoes. She glanced down at them but nothing was amiss, she brushed it off, people handled their grief in weird ways. She glanced at Katherine and saw that she was enraptured with the interaction, but her eyes were glaring hotly at Elena.

"No…I didn't…I don't know what I feel Stefan but I know I am not in love with you." Stefan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The switch was like a blinking neon sign, urging him to turn it off, let it go and ignore all of the pain. Just switch it and have fun, live free, don't care about anyone else. But then Lexi popped in to his head. Lexi was here. Lexi could help him, the one person who would actually be able to talk him off the ledge was miraculously in Mystic Falls. The relief almost made him smile but then Elena opened her mouth and it all came crashing back.

"I know I should have been the better person and let it go but I needed this, I needed her to feel and understand what it was like to have her heart ripped out so cruelly." His head snapped up to hers and he locked eyes with the girl he loved so consuming. Elena almost flinched with the burning intensity of Stefan's eyes. For the first time his eyes were downright cruel and angry towards her. Not even when he was at the height of his ripper stage had he stared at her with such loathing and contempt.

"And you decided it was okay to have me hurt in the process, as long as Katherine felt her heart get ripped out?" Stefan shouted, his eyes flashing and his words coming out in an angry mess. Elena grimaced and wanted to avert her gaze but she couldn't she needed to feel his pain, needed to embrace it, she had caused it, it was her fault. Katherine was right, she needed to stop running away from her problems, she needed to start dealing with the consequences of her actions.

Stefan breathed deeply and calmed down, his rage settling down in his stomach and the hurt taking its place. He shook his head, his eyes watering and he smiled at her but his eyes were anything but happy. "Well congratulations Elena, I can't talk for Katherine but I can say you ripped someone's heart out today." He turned away from her, the sight of her causing him too many emotions and he stalked out of the house, Elena not even trying to stop him.

The door slammed shut and the three girls stared at each other. Rebekah looked at Elena, feeling a mixture of rage and pity. Rage because as much as Stefan had betrayed her in the past she knew he did it out of love, he had a pure heart and it would be the death of him one day but that was one of the reasons why she would always love him. Stefan was an amazing person and he did not deserve the torture she had inflicted on him. But then she also felt pity because she knew that it wasn't easy to lose everyone in your family, be forced to have your emotions turned off, do horrible things and then have to deal with it when your emotions come all flooding back. But Elena needed to realize that she couldn't keep hurting the people that sacrificed themselves for her so mercifully without thinking of the consequences.

She sighed and let Katherine go. Instantly the brunette was on Elena, her hand plunged through Elena's ribcage and grasping on to her heart. Elena stared in shock and fear as Katherine glared at her. "I hope you are happy Elena, your foolish plan has done nothing more than make Stefan hate you, possibly forever, and push him closer to me." She grasped Elena's heart, squeezing and making Elena gasp in pain, sure that Katherine was about to kill her. "And for the record, I always know when Stefan's lying, and trust me if I died he would be devastated." Katherine removed her hand from Elena's chest and grabbed a napkin from the nearby table.

"Would anyone mind explaining what you are all doing in my house? And why, for that matter I have about a hundred frantic voicemails from Stefan about the veil being down?" Rebekah looked up and noticed her brothers standing there, minus Kol

"Katerina." Elijah said, a smile tugging at his lips. Katherine smirked at him, throwing the bloodied towel on the table. "Rebekah, is it true? Has our Kol inspired a supernatural ghost revolution?" Elijah tilted his head and Rebekah nodded, the drama from the past fifteen minutes had completely distracted her from the ensuing craziness. She looked at her watch again, not believing that it had really only been a half an hour since Elena had asked to speak to her, twenty minutes since she seized Katherine and fifteen minutes since Stefan had entered the house.

"Fantastic. I assume the whole mystery solving gang is in the Boarding house?" Klaus asked as he walked to his bar and grabbed a drink. "Was Stefan here?" he asked, noticing the glass had been used.

"He just left." Rebekah said and turned to Elijah, noticing the way his eyes were locked on Katherine. "I should be getting back to the Salvatore's, we were figuring out a way to end this." She walked to the door, Klaus, Katherine and Elijah going as well, Elena slowly walked in the back, still fearful of every vampire in the room, except maybe Elijah.

Before they walked through the door Klaus turned to her, smiling and showing his dimples. "Don't think it has escaped my attention that we wouldn't have to fight my brother and his army of rebellious dead supernatural creatures if you hadn't of killed him in the first place." Klaus looked at the scared little doppelganger, wanting nothing more than to rip her head out and throw her body in to the ocean. "You are very lucky that I not only have more important things to do but greatly value my relationship with Stefan and Caroline far too much to ruin it by killing you." Klaus smiled and turned away, zipping out of view.

Elena sighed, leaning against the door jam and taking a moment to breath. Everything that she had been trying to suppress came crashing in and her breath left her in big sobs, causing her to cry out, grasping at her arms. Suddenly arms were around her and she looked in to the eyes of her brother. "Jer…" she trailed off, still sobbing. Jeremy smiled softly and held his sister, trying to quiet her sobs. "I have done so many horrible things…everyone will hate me. I should just leave."

Jeremy shook his head, pulling back and making Elena look at him. "Elena…you might not have been the easiest person to watch over these past few weeks but its fine. People make mistakes, you are a vampire…normal rules don't apply…you have to move on…grow…learn how to forgive, how to grieve and most of all you can't forget to live." Elena's eyes were still tearing but her sobs had quieted as he brother's words washed over her.

"I might have been able to apologize from what I did with my emotions off but Jer…I have been raving since turning them back…I just hurt Stefan…you don't even know what I said to him…l was horrible." Elena shook her head, the guilt creeping up her throat, she could feel it in every nerve ending.

"You did Elena…and now you have to deal with that. And you will, I know that you will Elena, you are the strongest person I know."

"How did you get so smart?" She asked, trying to lighten the mood. Jeremy smiled and hugged his sister tight, happy to be able to share these moments with her. They sat there for a couple minutes longer, both just soaking in each other's embraces, happy to have each other again.

"Enough wallowing, are you ready to go kill the son of a bitch again?" Jeremy stood up, pulling Elena with him. She smiled at his enthusiasm and nodded. He threw his fist in the air and pointed it to her. "Gilberts unite!" She laughed and joined their fists, her heartwarming at the sight of her little brother's smiling face, and everything else washing away.

* * *

Katherine stood inside the boarding house, off to the side as everyone discussed plans. She was waiting until she knew when Bonnie was planning on lifting the veil and then she would be as far away from Mystic Falls as she could get. She didn't know if Bonnie had it in her to kill her but she wasn't too keen to find out.

She sighed as she lifted the glass to her lips, her eyes zoning in on Stefan as he stood beside that blonde tramp, Lexi. As much as she wanted to go over to him, hug him tight and kiss him as passionately as he had kissed Elena before she knew it would be pointless. For now anyway. She knew how Stefan thought he felt about her, and she would have to give it some time, for the love to grow and for him to finally realize how perfect they were together.

She sneered at the Gilbert pair, deeply discussing strategy with Damon and Alaric. She rolled her eyes as Elena began to protest a plan that would put Damon in danger. She looked back to Stefan, her heart clenching. She wouldn't admit it, but if she had believed what Stefan said today her heart would have been ripped out. As it was it had been brutal hearing him say those things about her with such sincerity. But she knew they couldn't be true. They had to be false.

If they were true than Katherine would run out of hope and any last bit of her humanity would be stripped from her, leaving her to be a monster.

Sure she loved Elijah and would be happy if he ever decided to give her another chance. But she would always love Stefan. And she would always yearn for him. Always remember that moment when he had looked at her with those gorgeous green eyes, filled with love and told her she was an angel. She smiled just thinking about it and lightly touched her lips, remembering how it felt kissing him.

He suddenly looked up and caught her off guard. She raised her eyebrow, trying to seem unfazed. He excused himself from Lexi's side and walked out of the house, nonchalantly motioning to the door with his head. She waited a few moments and then got up, ignoring the harsh glare directed at her from the blonde tramp and the curious look from Damon.

She walked a distance from the house, following the faint sight and smell of Stefan. Fantasizing that he was going to take her out here, a mere mile from the house where everyone was, completely unaware of their passion. He stopped walking and turned to her, his hands in his pockets and she leaned against a tree, just enjoying the sight of him.

"Any particular reason we are out here?" she asked after a few minutes of silence stretched. Stefan looked at her, really looked at her and Katherine's heart jumped despite her desire to stay calm.

"Its nice to hear you actually have emotion and can react to things." Stefan said smiling, amused at how her heart was racing. She rolled her eyes.

"Handsome men tend to get that reaction from me." She smirked as Stefan licked his smiling lips and shook his head in amusement.

"Always flirting Katherine."

"Always enjoying it." She shot back, glad to see that he was capable of smiling after today's events. They stared at each other for another moment before Stefan looked up, a bird flying over them.

"You should leave now." He said, looking at her, face serious. She stared back at him, not surprised, she had been expecting either him or Damon or even Elijah to come to her soon and tell her to leave. They may claim to feel nothing for her but she knew that they did. She had made them that way. She nodded slightly and he pursed his lips, rocking on his feet slightly as if he wanted to say something but didn't know how.

"Stefan?" she asked, hope filling her. He licked his lips again and looked up at her, his eyes so similar to how they were when she had first fell in love with him.

"Those things, I said to Elena..." he trailed off, taking a breath. "Look Katherine, we have had a rough past...but I couldn't sit by and let Bonnie kill you...even though logically I know I shouldn't care...I still do." Her heart was beating rapidly and her face was warm, if she had the capacity to blush her face would be flaming right now. His words filled her and she felt like genuinely smiling for the first time in years. "I am not saying I want to be best friends, and a part of me still hates you, especially for the role you played in Jeremy's death but..." He took a deep breath, kicking some of the leaves on the ground and trying to think of how to articulate how he felt. He sighed and looked at her. "You may have done horrible unforgivable selfish things but you have saved my life and Damon's and even Elena's a number of times these past few years and well..."

Katherine watched on, surprised that Stefan, who was normally so eleoquent, he was a graduate of Harvard afterall, was having such a difficult time speaking. He finally shook his head and looked at her, locking their eyes and staring, conveying his emotions to her through their gaze. She nodded softly, understanding. There was something about her that got under his skin...just like he got under his...and he couldn't shake it. The difference was that she didn't want to shake him and he would probably do anything to shake her.

"Be careful Katherine." Stefan said and he gave her a slight smile, walking past her and back to the boarding house. She finally smiled, the happiness from knowing that he did feel something for her, that he couldn't just let her die filled her and she breathed deeply, smiling up at the sky. She looked over her shoulder, watching as he walked away, admiring his back until he was out of sight. She raced off in to the night, eager to get as far away from Bonnie and he expression as she could.


End file.
